Risshisha

Hi, this is Risshisha's Huong.
This time, I want to talk about yatsuhashi,
one of my favorite dishes.

Although it's a common Kyoto souvenir, yatsuhashi actually seems to have a long history!

In 1689, Kengyo Yatsuhashi, referring to the book, asked if he might make something out
of the leftover rice because he felt it would be regrettable to throw it away.
There is an opinion that Yatsuhashi Kengyo made the leftover rice in the jar
into baked sweets by adding cinnamon and honey.

In the past, yatsuhashi was a straight-baked sweets, which is why it got its current round shape.
Nowadays, when you think of yatsuhashi, you usually imagine a soft, triangular-shaped pastry filled with red bean paste.
It seems to have got its shape around the Meiji era.

Because Yatsuhashi Kengyo was a koto player and composer, and because sokyoku is a common term for koto music, this rounded shape is based on that fact.
Another opinion is that it was made with a koto form as the motif, four years after Kengyo Yatsuhashi's death.

These days, a variety of stores sell souvenirs of Yatsuhashi stuffed with red bean paste, and picking one is never easy!
Yatsuhashi with chestnut bean paste tends to be popular this time of year, but it's great no matter the type.

This time we bought Purple Sweet Potato Bean Paste and Crumbly Chestnut Bean Paste from Kyoto Nama Yatsuhashi Otabe-san.
The chestnut bean paste smelled good when I opened it, and Nikki's raw yatsuhashi gave an interesting flavor.
It was also really tasty, and I could taste the chestnuts.

This time, we introduced Yatsuhashi, but Kyoto has a much wider variety of other sweets, including Western sweets. Come try it, please.